Jackson Free Press

The world around you brightens into view. You're in a bathroom, somewhere. Something below you is pulsating slightly. You look down and find the corpse of a middle-aged man, and your hand clasps a bloody knife that seems to fit perfectly into the three wounds he's got in his chest. Outside, a police officer finishes his meal and heads toward the bathroom.

Welcome to the world of "Indigo Prophecy," where a strong stomach and quick thinking are mandatory. It's a beautiful game, in every aspect. The genre switches seamlessly from mystery and exploration—reminiscent of "Day of the Tentacle" or "Broken Sword,"—to horror rivaling "Resident Evil" or "Silent Hill." Aspects of sci-fi and the supernatural, as well as action/adventure, all add to the mix.

The game stars three main characters: Lucas Kane, (the one who woke up in the bathroom), Carla Valenti and Tyler Miles. The ingenious storyline starts here—you control both a man wanted for murder and then detectives trying to hunt him down. It's interesting playing cat and mouse while controlling both parties. The graphics are all you could hope for, with pretty characters and rich, atmospheric levels. The setting of the game is New York City, and the characters find themselves everywhere from diners to parks to police precincts. All the levels have a sense of completion to them, as if the developers specifically put each object where it is for a reason, and many allow for extensive interaction.

The goal of each area is to solve puzzles and survive conflicts, all while trying to keep your character's stress high enough to live. Everything you do affects your stress meter. Relax and play some basketball, it goes up. Lose a lead in a case, it goes down.

It's hard to tell which aspect of "Indigo Prophecy" is most appealing. Maybe it's the charged dialogue—delivered from top-notch voice actors—or the twisting plot and crucial decisions the player must make in second. Whatever the case, it's a great game that no one should be without.

Let me make something clear to you. Once you know the difference between a painter and an artist, when you've bopped across the city with a handful of flash and three cans of paint, when you've battled alongside Warchiefs like Cyrus and Cleon, then you can call yourself a Warrior. If the above sentence made no sense to you, you've had a severe lack of "The Warriors" in your life.

Rockstar ("Grand Theft Auto," "Manhunt") transformed what was originally a '70s cult classic from a movie you've gotta watch into a game you've gotta play. Fans of the film will instantly recognize all the characters, as well as their frantic, cross-city run back to native Coney.

The game takes place around three months before the fateful meeting that started the movie, and stays true to the plot and feel. It all happens in New York City, overrun by hundreds of gangs. The player controls The Warriors, the eponymous group of honorable but tough fighters from Coney Island, and follows their rise (and near fall) in full.

Everything is fun: painting over enemy tags to assert supremacy, robbing civilians or shops for extra cash, and of course beating the hell out of rival gangs. The game play can get frantic, with cops and gang members chasing after you—it takes a quick eye to make it through the night. A strong plot and varied levels more than make up for the somewhat weak extras and weaker graphics, meaning there's a whole lot of replay in this one. It's rare that a movie translates so well into a game, but it's been a success here. Who better to deliver it than good ol' Rockstar?

Previous Comments

ID

84527

Comment

This game was cool, isn't it old now? I am learning to get out of the house again now that it is superb outside, golf, tennis, running, the real ones not topspin or tiger woods.

Author

*SuperStar*

Date

2006-04-26T16:16:16-06:00